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Chrishchurch Vets 2018
15-20 May, Ipswich, England, $5k |
Final: Fuller takes
the title in three
Alec Livingstone reports
The final of the Christchurch Veterinary Surgery Ipswich Open
saw the two top seeds battle it out for the title.
Alexandra
Fuller has been in fine form all week and not dropped a game in
progressing to the final, meanwhile her opponent Lucy Turmel had
battled through her semi final in five games and 65 minutes.
This
perhaps showed in the early stages with Fuller racing to a 7-2
lead in the first and then coasting home 11-7, always dominating
the centre of the court and hunting the ball down at every
opportunity. In the second it followed a similar pattern with
Fuller taking an 8-1 lead and never allowing her opponent to
settle in the middle of the court.
Turmel became increasingly
frustrated with this and started to go short from behind Fuller
which more often than not resulted in yet more pressure and the
South African closed the game out 11-5.
In the third Turmel got off to a better start and traded points
until 5-4, helped by a number of errors from Fuller on her
normally reliable backhand volley drop. This momentum was
shortlived though and the number one seed re-asserted her
control of the game and took the title 11-6.
Fuller has now won
a string of events and heads off to France next week full of
confidence and aiming to rise up the rankings after a strong
performance last week at the British Open. Turmel on the other
hand will have gained a huge amount from performing in front of
her home crowd and taking out both Kace Bartley and Cristina
Gomes on route to the final.
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Chrishchurch Vets 2018
15-20 May, Ipswich, England, $5k |
Round One
17 May |
Quarters
18 May |
Semis
19 May |
Final
20 May |
[1] Alexandra Fuller (Rsa)
11/5, 11/8, 11/2 (32m)
Jasmine Hutton (Eng) |
[1] Alexandra Fuller
11/4, 11/4, 11/3 (18m)
[Q] Lucy Beecroft |
[1] Alexandra Fuller 11/5, 11/3, 11/7
(29m)
[3] Alison Thomson |
[1] Alexandra Fuller
11/7, 11/5, 11/6 (29m)
[2] Lucy Turmel |
[5] Chloe Mesic (Fra)
11/8, 11/7, 4/11, 4/11, 11/7 (51m)
[Q] Lucy Beecroft (Eng) |
[6] Tessa ter Sluis (Ned)
13/11, 11/4, 11/13, 11/9 (40m)
Georgia Adderley (Sco) |
[6] Tessa ter Sluis
10/12, 11/8, 9/11, 11/5, 11/8 (49m)
[3] Alison Thomson |
[3] Alison Thomson (Sco)
7/11, 11/7, 11/0, 7/11, 11/6 (45m)
[Q] Lily Taylor (Eng) |
Ali Hemingway (Wal)
11/5, 11/7, 8/11, 11/5 (32m)
[4] Rachel Chadwick (Eng) |
[4] Rachel Chadwick
11/2, 11/8, 6/11, 9/11, 11/7 (50m)
[8] Cristina Gomez |
[8] Cristina Gomez 11/5, 11/4, 7/11, 8/11,
11/7 (65m)
[2] Lucy Turmel |
[Q] Elspeth Young (Sco)
11/3, 11/8, 11/8 (30m)
[8] Cristina Gomez (Esp) |
[wc] Alice Green (Eng)
11/8, 11/8, 9/11, 11/8 (31m)
[7] Kace Bartley (Eng) |
[7] Kace Bartley
11/3, 11/8, 11/8 (29m)
[2] Lucy Turmel |
[Q] Olga Kolarova (Cze)
11/5, 11/1, 13/11 (33m)
[2] Lucy Turmel (Eng) |
Qualifying:
Finals:
Elspeth Young (Sco) 3-0 Bruna Marchesi Petrillo (Bra)
11-6, 11-9, 11-2 (18m)
Lily Taylor (Eng) 3-1 Nia Davies (Wal)
11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6 (27m)
Lucy Beecroft (Eng) 3-0 Alicia Mead (Eng)
11-5, 11-6, 11-9 (22m
Olga Kolarova (Cze) 3-1 Charlotte Jagger (Eng)
11-2, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7 (29m)
Round One:
Bruna Marchesi Petrillo (Bra) 3-0 Emma Bartley (Eng)
11-7, 12-10, 11-4 (22m)
Lily Taylor (Eng) 3-0 Abby Hicks (Wal)
11-5, 11-3, 11-2 (21mins)
Nia Davies (Wal) w/o Zoe Petrovansky (Aus)
Lucy Beecroft (Eng) 3-0 Margaux Pitarch (Esp)
12-10, 11-5, 11-4 (26m)
Olga Kolarova (Cze) 3-0 Emily Ison (Eng)
11-5, 11-1, 11-6 (15m)
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Semis: Top seeds
through to final
Alec Livingstone reports
Top seed Alexandra Fuller took out Ali Thomson in the first semi
final of the Ipswich Open. She relentlessly took the ball early,
both on the volley and from the front of the court allowing her
opponent no time to recover or establish herself in the rallies.
Fuller dictated from start to finish and despite some breath
taking retrieving from Thomson the match was over in under half
an hour, 3-0.
In the second semi final Lucy Turmel took on Cristina Gomes from
Spain. The two players know each other well from their junior
playing days and this always promised to be a close encounter.
In the first two games Turmel started fast and was in complete
control, mixing up her length and then exploiting the front of
the court. Gomes looked to be suffering the effects of her
mammoth 5-setter the day before but somehow she managed to
scrape a tight third and from 8-6 down in the fourth she battled
back to level the match at 2-2.
At the beginning of the fifth an accidental clash resulted in a
6 minute blood time out after Gomes received a blow to the face.
Fortunately no serious harm done and the players resumed at a
ferocious tempo after the break, reaching 5-5.
Turmel then got into the lead with two brutal long rallies and
despite some great dives and scintillating winners from Gomes
the England International and current European Under 19 Champion
made no mistake, taking the match 11-7.
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Quarters: Gomez
joins top three seeds
Alec Livingstone reports
Alexandra Fuller took on Lucy Beecroft in the first match of the
night. Fuller started very strongly, taking the initiative and
the first game 11-4.
Fuller continued to dominate and Beecroft found herself
continually trying to defend and stay in the rallies but to no
avail. Fuller ran out a comfortable 3-0 winner in just 18
minutes.
Beecroft, who is studying in the US has had a strong week and
entertained the crowds with her outstanding shot making
abilities; unfortunately today her opponent curtailed her
opportunities to the bare minimum.
Next up was Alison Thomson taking on Tessa ter Sluis in what
promised to be a highly competitive match with the first two
games toing and froing resulting in the score being one apiece.
The match continued to ebb and flow with the Dutchwoman moving
her opponent all around the court but in the end Thomson's
exceptional movement proved to be the telling factor, closing
out the 5th game 11-8.
The impressive young Spaniard, Cristina Gomes took on the 4th
seed Rachael Chadwick and dominated the first two games, taking
a commanding two game lead.
Chadwick then responded and fought her way into the match,
taking the 3rd 11-6 and the fourth 11-9 having trailed 9-7. This
seemed to knock the stuffing out of Gomes but she showed real
fighting quality in the 5th, taking a 9-7 lead.
Chadwick then had a no-let decision against her and Gomes only
needed one chance to take the match. This was an excellent
battle from beginning to end and will have left both players
exhausted.
In the final match of the night the local hero Lucy Turmel took
on the inventive Kace Bartley for the final spot in the last
four.
The pair had recently competed in the PSA final in Aberdeen and
Turmel looked determined to repeat her victory. Turmel started
in formidable form, dictating the pace of the game with her
driving and then exploiting the spaces at the front of the
court.
In the second and third Bartley managed to break the rhythm and
slow things down but Turmel was always in control and closed the
match out 3-0.
Turmel will face Gomes in the semi finals on Saturday. Both have
had outstanding junior careers and are the former and current
European Under-19 Champions so it promises to be an intriguing
battle. Meanwhile Fuller, who has looked a class apart up until
this point will take on Ali Thomson.
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Beecroft joins
seven seeds in Quarters
Alec Livingstone reports
The upset of the night came in the form of Lucy Beecroft
knocking out the 5th seed Chloe Mesic in an epic 5 game, 51
minute battle.
Beecroft took the first two games with little trouble,
controlling the court with her variety and quality of shot but
Mesic then gained a foothold in the match taking the 3rd and 4th
comfortably. In a match which seemed to be heading towards an
excellent comeback by the French player, Beecroft regained her
composure and the momentum, closing out a high quality match
11-7 in the fifth to progress to the quarter-finals.
Top seed Alexandra Fuller was composed in beating her younger
opponent Jasmine Hutton. Fuller, who has just returned from the
British Open in Hull looked a class act, moving Hutton to all 4
corners of the court. On many occasions to her credit Hutton
seemed to be in the ascendancy but Fuller's experience and
exceptional control of the ball made the difference.
In the second Hutton raced to an 8-1 lead but Fuller doggedly
clawed herself back into the game winning the next 10 points
with no return. This recovery proved decisive with the number
one seed closing out the match in the 3rd game, 11-2. On this
evidence Fuller will be hard to beat this week.
The last match on was the home favourite and second seed Lucy
Turmel against qualifier and former World top 40 Olga Kolarova.
Turmel was in good form from the off and controlled the pace of
the game, proving to be too good in the first two games.
In the 3rd Kolarova showed her pedigree and took a seemingly
insurmountable 10-3 lead. Turmel, well supported by the home
crowd set about reigning her opponent back in point by point. At
11-all Kolarova sportingly called her ball down and Turmel took
full advantage to close out the match 13-11 and progress to the
next round.
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Qualifying Complete
Alec Livingstone reports
After Wednesday’s matches we now know who will be taking up the
vacant spots in the Main Draw starting on Thursday night.
Elspeth Young and Lucy Beecroft both had fairly
straightforward matches and will face Cristina Gomez and Chloe
Mesic respectively.
Lily Taylor also made it through after an entertaining
match with Nia Davies. Both hit the ball with pace and when it
came to straightforward rallying there was little to choose
between the players.
However Taylor was the more inventive and it was her ability to
break up the rally and catch Davies off balance that made the
difference. Taylor will play Alison Thomson of Scotland in
Thursday’s match. L
 Last
to qualify was Olga Kolarova who had disposed of the home
Club’s pro in the first round and was fairly dominant in
disposing of Charlotte Jagger in Wednesday’s final round.
Kolarova takes the ball very early and Jagger never had a chance
to settle, losing the first two games very quickly with a number
of unforced errors. And at 8-4 down in the third it seemed all
over.
But she battled back and having taken the third 11-9 it looked
as if she might be about to stage a remarkable comeback.
However Kolarova raced to 8-2 in the fourth and despite a few
niggles between the players on the last few points took the
match 3-1 to face home favourite and 2nd seed Lucy Turmel in her
next match.
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Young fan shows support for Emily Ison
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